


Alatus

by RivalSilver



Category: Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Angels, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Humor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, adkjadkj I can't wait to actually work on this, bear with me, bruh, longfic, maybe some angst idk, probably some smut in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 18:32:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19025542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RivalSilver/pseuds/RivalSilver
Summary: After moving out into the huge city of Hearthome, college student Hikari Berlitz struggles to adjust to her new life. After a random act of kindness, she finds that she's luckier than most people. AU.





	Alatus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [masqurade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/masqurade/gifts).



> AYE WADDUP! Here I come in with yet another fic that's been in my WIPs for quite some time now ~~two years~~. I sincerely want to thank my friend Masq because lately, she's been very supportive in my works and in my life. 
> 
> This is dedicated to you. Thank you for being an amazing friend. I love you and support you, so I'm gonna crack up some longfic of your forever otp. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I enjoy writing it! 🤠 
> 
> Will update as my schedule and inspiration allows me to!  
>  ~~also I don't have a beta reader or anything so any mistakes I apologize for and I will fix if they're brought to my attention! :)~~

alate  **(adj.)  
**_having wings or winglike structures_

* * *

There were times when she wanted to kick herself. Repeatedly. A simple act that would literally feel like it would be able to put her into place.

Sighing heavily, Hikari pressed her forehead against her awaiting palm, already feeling the incoming headache. The brightness from her laptop screen strained her eyes, up to the point where her irritant reliever eyedrops couldn’t do much to ease the discomfort. The cursor blinked along the toolbar of her personal e-mail page, listing off the last three e-mails that she hadn’t opened yet.

She only had to read the first line that the e-mails previewed in order for anguish to instantly flood her body.

_Due to unfortunate circumstances, we are not seeking any interns…_

_Hikari, Unfortunately, your application did not get_ _approved_ …

_Hikari Berlitz, Thank you for your interest in this position. Unfortunately, I am obligated to inform you that you did not..._

Hikari let out a moan as she dug her head into both of her hands, elbows resting on the tiny desk. She merely let herself wallow in self-pity, before finally propping her head forward again, glints of annoyance in her crystal eyes. Mumbling to herself, she closed her laptop with excessive force, and forced herself to her feet.

In two swift strides, she was crashing onto her little bed. Her face hit the small pillow, exhaling dramatically. “Well, another day of rejection,” she muffled out to nobody in particular.

The buildup of stress and worry was already pumping into her body once more. Rent in Hearthome City was nowhere near as cheap as her hometown of Twinleaf, and the more she spent without at _least_ obtaining a part time job, the more she could feel the financial burden piling up. 

She _could_ grab the phone and call her mother – it wasn’t _too_ late, and she was absolutely sure that her mother wouldn’t hesitate to drop some money into her bank account - which would last her for a few weeks - while she kept her rigid job search.

But Hikari was known for being quite stubborn. She preferred to suffer in silence and deal with her own demons.

Propping her body to her side, she tugged the small, stuffed panda she brought with her from her room back in Twinleaf. She cuddled it close to her chest, arms protectively wrapped around it. Hikari inhaled softly at the familiar scent.

It smelled like home.

It smelled like her favorite winter nights as a child, when she would watch late night movies with her mother, wrapped with blankets on the couch while drinking a warm, steamy mug of hot cocoa.

Hikari quietly gave the panda a squeeze. “We’ll get through this,” she mumbled to it, as if it were someone that she shared her burdens with. “Don’t you worry.”

It took her about ten minutes until she decisively crawled off the bed and moved back to her desk. The apartment she rented wasn't too close to the university she attended, yet it served an excellent bargain – it was small, cheap, and convenient for students like herself. The tiny kitchen was almost in the same room as the bedroom, only being split apart by a curve in the wall, which corned a small room for the bathroom and a shower. She didn’t really have that much furniture; her mother _insisted_ on renting a small trailer to move some of the stuff from her room to haul over to her new apartment. The only thing that really came out of Hikari’s pocket was the small sofa she bought for herself, some kitchen utensils, toiletries, and simple household cleaning products.

Hikari dropped back into the chair settled in front of the tiny desk and blew a hanging strand of her hair out of view. Swiftly, she opened up the university’s career center webpage, muttering to herself as she began a late-night search for more positions to apply to.

* * *

 

Hikari didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the abrupt sounds of her alarm blaring from her phone caused her eyes to snap wide open. Lips parted, she pushed herself up from her desk, groaning at the soreness engulfing her back at the cruel, hunched position she had forced it to suffer through the night. “Ow…”

After a moment, the tedious alarm silenced as she cleared it.

She cursed to herself, glancing at the screen. She had gotten next to _nothing_ done in terms of submitting more applications. Her head had hit the desk just as soon as she had opened a new tab the previous night. “Dammit, Hikari…”

Shaking her head, she got up and pushed aside the thoughts of her unemployment status, and instead, made a mental note of her current assignments in each of her classes.

The only classes she was able to snag as a freshman (and her poor priority status) had left her with the worst options and timeslots: Two back to back classes from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., a huge block in between her classes, then a 6:30 p.m. class. The campus was the most populated in all of Sinnoh and had the highest acceptance rate, so it was rather lively and packed.

After hopping into the shower, she finished up by slipping into her outfit of the day. Plain blue jeans, a nice cream-colored coat to keep her warm, brown boots, and a lovely soft-pink scarf that complimented her coat. Hikari hastily grabbed her bag and rushed out of her apartment with her keys in one hand, and her bus card with the other hand. 

She mentally thanked the highest deity that she made it to the bus before it was about to depart.

Hikari didn’t own a car yet, since she didn’t really have the time (nor money) to purchase one that was convenient enough to utilize, and she didn’t want to pay the horrid parking permit fees, so she opted to public transportation.

Thinking about the enormity that was Hearthome made her wince internally – though the early morning wasn’t too bad, the time it took her to take the three bus routes from the university to her apartment after her morning classes was already two hours killed. Then she would have to take the three bus routes back to campus while hitting the afternoon traffic jams, and she didn’t want to even think about making it late to class. This forced her to stay on campus a majority of the time.

Face glued to her phone, she scrolled through her social media accounts, keeping to herself. She didn’t really have anyone to talk to and hadn’t bothered to optimize the clubs and organizations that the University of Hearthome had to offer. Despite her stubbornness, she was also very shy and kept to herself most of the time.

Hikari wrinkled her nose at the idea of communication with people from here. City folk were very… _proud_ of themselves and for lack of better terms, full of it. Almost every person she had encountered so far had something out of line to say, whether it’d be a subtle comment, an out of line question, or distasteful remarks.

She suppressed a sigh and frowned at her thoughts. Surely, she knew better than to group everyone up into one stereotypical category; not everyone was vain.

But her town was extremely small – small enough to not even be mentioned by the more modern versions of maps, and barely listed in GPS tracking devices. It had a very tiny population, everyone knew each other, and it overall, felt like home.

Of course, her mother wanted her to go out and explore the world. Despite winning herself a full ride scholarship, she didn’t have enough money saved for her other expenses…

Hikari grimaced at the memory of her recent e-mails. With a huff, she exited the app she was currently on, and instead popped up her e-mail app.

Nothing new, except for the three e-mails that haunted her dreams last night.

“Ugh.”

Clearing the app, she was about to click on back to her blogging app, when suddenly, the bus came to an abrupt halt, startling many of the passengers. Glancing up in surprise, Hikari parted her lips, then audibly groaned with a few other passengers at the sight before them: A head-on collision with the car in front of them.

“Oh God,” she said to herself, watching the view with an accelerated pulse. _Now, out of all times, the bus driver causes an accident?!_

Five minutes quickly turned into thirty minutes, and it was making her anxious.

She checked the time on her phone. Her first class would begin in just over an hour. There was no way she was going to make it in time; they had gone past the scheduled stop times, throwing off her whole commute schedule. 

Currently, a majority of the passengers were still sitting in their seats, most on their phones or checking the morning paper as the driver was outside, dealing with the victim. Hikari narrowed her eyes in annoyance, then huffed as she suddenly got up from her seat, yanking her belongings with her. She slammed the double doors open and hopped herself out.

_Might as well go for a walk…_

Hikari never really got to explore the town with leisure, so the stroll quickly slowed its pace as she took the time to observe her surroundings. There were many shops, lots of noise from traffic, and people rushing through the sidewalks, mostly keeping to themselves. Chatter erupted from the electronic billboards up ahead flashing with advertisements.

The city was huge and it sort of made her feel rather tiny and insignificant.

As she trotted along the pavement, she reached down into her pocket within her coat, trying to fish out her earbuds. Music always seemed to put her at ease – especially classical. There was something about the melodic tunes of pianos and violins with hints of melancholy to them, that never failed to ease her. Perhaps it was a reflection on her as a person...  

The corners of her lips curved downward at the realization that her earbuds were not in her pocket. She checked her jeans, hoping they’d be there, but she merely knitted her brows at their absence. Strange. She was sure she had grabbed them before rushing out of her apartment…

She checked her phone again, clicking on a bus route map, showing her the designated stops. She was nowhere near her next bus route, and the time was ticking for her class to begin.

“What a hell of a morning,” she mumbled to herself, caving into her mood and giving on her attempts to even make it to campus. Half-hearted, she drastically slowed her pace. A warm cup of coffee sounded comforting at the moment.

She gazed around, seeking out the closest café, which she could see along the next block. Hikari let out a soft exhale of relief – this would be some time to catch up on her assignments and maybe even apply to more places. There had to be an employer out there that wanted her...despite having no experience...

Passing along a few stores, Hikari reached a crosswalk. Swiftly, she pressed the button to activate the green signal, and patiently waited. Her eyes flickered around, admiring the city’s atmosphere.

But alas, she had come to terms that not every city was painted out to be perfect. On the contrary to words and pictures, real life was different. 

Across the street ahead of her, Hikari spotted what appeared to be an old man crouched against the corner of the building, hunched up. She could faintly catch the puffs of his breath lingering from his mouth. She wasn’t too sure, but upon squinting, she noted that he was probably shivering from the cold…

Hikari frowned at the sight.

Nobody deserved to live like that. It broke her heart, watching people merely walk past the poor man, not giving him another glance. Maybe it was the bystander effect taking place, but she couldn’t really make sure – after all, the man wasn’t really drawing attention to himself…

Stubbornly shaking her head, Hikari reached over into her bag, pulling out her wallet. Digging in, she managed to find a crumbled up five-dollar bill and gripped it into her palm as she finally was able to cross the street. It irritated her slightly how people nonchalantly passed by him without a single double-take. This was what she noted when she had remembered people being so _full of it_ in the city. Ignoring those in need without a care in the world…

Hell, if she couldn't start the day off right, maybe someone else would be able to in her place. 

When Hikari approached the man, she pursed her lips, hesitation evident in her features, before she sucked it up and softly bent down to her knees at his level. “Excuse me,” Hikari said quietly. 

She received no response. 

Her frown deepened. “Excuse me,” she repeated, a bit louder.

The shivering man finally glanced up.

Something caused her to blink in surprise. He had…beautiful golden eyes. They were _mesmerizing_. She couldn't really point it out, but it was as if they weren't even human... 

“Um,” she started out, awkwardly making a fist around the currency. She was fully engulfed into his eyes, blinking slowly. 

The man beat her to the punch, and he grunted out in a husky tone, “Spare change…?”

Hikari snapped out of her trance, finally smiling as she handed him the crumbled-up bill. She enjoyed seeing the shock on his face – signifying that he did not seem to get much at all.

He gazed at the bill in amazement, as if it were a shiny new toy, and glanced back up to her. It was like he pierced her into place with those gorgeous eyes. 

“It’s not much, but I hope it’s able to get something warm to eat in you,” Hikari muttered, forcing herself to tear away from his peripheral view, glancing down. She watched another huff of smoke leave his mouth and watched as he tried to tuck whatever fabric he had over his surprisingly pale neck.

Without giving much thought, her hands were on her scarf, tugging it off her neck. She pushed that over to him as well. _You need it more than I do, my fellow friend_.

Hikari merely nodded in silence, watching the man gaze at her with interest. She offered him a smile. “Stay warm!”

Pulling herself to her feet, she started to stride away from the scene. And of course, people did not pay any mind. The observation ticked her off in a way. Maybe she was being too selfless. But was that even possible...?

Shaking her head, her thoughts eased toward her need of hot coffee consumption the closer she approached the café. Hikari was seen happily skipping in, an awaiting cup of coffee at arm’s reach.

* * *

The wind was crisp and cold, having everyone bundled up in sweaters and jackets for warmth.

Footsteps crunched below the fallen leaves from the trees up in the sky. A gentle sigh could be heard breathing out.

He clenched the pink scarf in his hand, a smile tugging the person’s lips.

For he had found the one worthy of his blessing.


End file.
